Roller Skating At Barry Island.

A Memory of Barry Island

Some of my best memories of Barry Island are from the week-ends I used to go to the skating rink which was situated above the block of shops on the sea side of the pleasure park overlooking the prom and sea. Three of us waited all week for this wonderful evening. We were, me, Pat Baker (Overstreet) Christine Pearce and Jackie Felix. We all saved hard to buy our own spanking new, white leather roller boots although, impatient to actually wear boots and not simply strap on skates, I bought a second hand pair from a girl called Roberta (Scott - I think) who made a wonderful and graceful dance partner with a very handsome young man, Arnold, I seem to remember. We all attempted (and failed) to emulate them! When we did buy our own boots we whitened them before each visit. What a pleasure it was to go home on the 10 past 9 'bus (because we had to!) with our skates thrown over our shoulders, tired out, excited, glistening and waiting for the next week end. Including bus fares and pop, the price for all that fantastic pleasure? 2/6 for the whole evening!